Pulse

By GCN Staff

DHS hopes blockchain can help secure IoT

In its efforts to develop technology to secure the Internet of Things, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate awarded $199,000 to Austin, Texas-based Factom Inc. for a blockchain-based solution.

Factom proposes to create an identity log that captures the identification of a device, the manufacturer, available updates, known security issues and granted authorities while adding timestamps for added security. The goal is to limit would-be hackers’ abilities to corrupt the past records for a device, making it more difficult to spoof.

The award was made under a DHS Silicon Valley Innovation Program solicitation, which launched in December 2015 to encourage non-traditional performers to offer solutions to some of the toughest threats facing the homeland security mission.